"I'll keep it short and sweet -- Family. Religion. Friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business." - Mr. Burns
"Misquoting Mr Burns...that's a paddling."
Cost of Living
11–20 of 53 posts
Re: Cost of Living
#12Depending on your age and current lifestyle, saving up beforehand makes a world of difference. I currently own a house and have a very comfortable job (which I would have to leave). Fortunately, I have saved up for the obligatory 6 month emergency fund, which I may dip into if my team is accepted into the program.
If you have decent savings, then great. Planning is always key, but taking risks are where people make themselves in life...
Re: Cost of Living
#13> Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me. It seems to be geared towards single, foot-loose folks. As somebody who's put long hours in on multiple technology projects, I don't feel that having a higher overhead translates to being a worse risk.
Higher overhead may not make someone a worse risk, but it does make them more expensive. That has consequences.
Is your participation worth twice as much as that of someone with half the overhead? If not, why should YC pay for your overhead?
As someone once said, "The universe is not here to please you."
Re: Cost of Living
#14As a married person who applied to ycombinator (and didn't get selected):
You are totally focusing on the wrong things - think about the application, your product, and your team (not in that order actually). Worry about the other stuff once you get in.
- Visiting/bringing wives is nice, but keep in mind that apart from the expense, your cofounders won't really be seeing them all that much.
-Make sure all or a majority of your founders can move. If they can't you've just given YC an easy way to move on to the next application..
Re: Cost of Living
#15Living expenses are the reason I'm not applying. Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me. It seems to be geared towards single, foot-loose folks. As somebody who's put long hours in on multiple technology projects, I don't feel that having a higher overhead translates to being a worse risk. After all, what are we talking abo…
If you think risking the delta between what YC offers vs. living expenses for a few months is worth not applying, you might (as a potential founder) want to reconsider your appetite for risk.
Re: Cost of Living
#16The food is high and the housing sounds low. Have you checked housing advertisements?
600 a month rent is what I'm paying, splitting a large rental house with 3 other people in Santa Clara, so definitely doable.
I agree that the food is really high. If you are really trying, the one time cost of a rice cooker and a 10 lb bag of Basmati rice from Costco will go a long way, as will bag lunches instead of going out. If you try, food can really cost very little.
Re: Cost of Living
#17Mainly your food seems extremely high. If you don't mind the tasty Lipton noodles ($1), Shells and Cheese ($1.50), Frozen Pizza ($2), Hot pockets ($3 for 2), Spaghetti (~$2), Canned soup ($1-2), Cereal ($0.25)... you can eat a lot of cheap meals. I don't see why it should be hard for someone to eat nicely at $300/mo.
For instance, last night I ate a chicken breast ($1), mashed potatoes (instant kind - $2), and green beans (can - $1.50), with a can of Coke ($0.25)... a decent meal for $4.75.
Re: Cost of Living
#18Living expenses are the reason I'm not applying. Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me. It seems to be geared towards single, foot-loose folks. As somebody who's put long hours in on multiple technology projects, I don't feel that having a higher overhead translates to being a worse risk. After all, what are we talking abo…
> Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me.
You lose a lot of time, time that would otherwise be spent working on your startup. Time that is important when you are trying to cram as much as possible into a 10 week timeframe.
Re: Cost of Living
#19$35/day for food is insane. You can eat really really well for less than half of that (if you are willing to cook).
Re: Cost of Living
#20$100 for entertainment is way too much ... YC's no fun ...